Which faction is stronger, or a template for comparing cities based on their strength!

You correctly grasped the essence this time. The template is needed precisely to ensure that, when comparing (even if abstractly, in the absence of specific data), nothing is overlooked, and I already mentioned this above. Comparison without specifics is generally an unrewarding task, but it is invaluable as a means of gathering information (precisely because of its ability to collect it comprehensively). In other words, information collected using a template takes into account all the nuances of the game without considering those subjective factors that you have already mentioned (player skill, map, luck, etc.). As you rightly pointed out, without specific data, this is nothing more than a general analysis of a universal nature, which, nevertheless, can be useful to many, and this is more than obvious. P.